Funding scheme for cooperation between Nordic and Baltic civil servants is open for applicants in 2018

Funding scheme for cooperation between Nordic and Baltic civil servants is open for applicants in 2018

Friday, 12 January 2018

The Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme for Public Administration is open for applications from civil servants and other staff in the public sector. The next deadline for submitting applications is 30 March 2018. There is one application round per year.

In order to obtain funding, the project should involve partners from at least three countries: Nordic applicants should visit a minimum of two Baltic countries, while Baltic applicants should visit partners in at least two Nordic countries.

Why apply?

Your colleagues in other Nordic and Baltic countries have ideas, plans and experiences worth discovering and discussing with partners.

Applying and reporting is easy and user friendly – all can be done online at NB8-Grants.

Results from 2017

61 applications from the Nordic-Baltic region were approved for grants with a total budget of 304 671 EUR in 2017. A total number of 330 civil servants are participating in the projects granted by the mobility programme.

The projects are quite evenly distributed between all the participating NB8 countries represented in the mobility programme.

Feedback to the programme is positive

The Chief Officer of the Centre for Quality Assessment in Higher Education of Lithuania, Ina Marija Šeščilienė, applied for funding for a group study visit to Nordic Agencies of Quality Assurance in Higher Education in Denmark, Finland and Norway in 2017. The main objective of the project was to share the experiences of different evaluation models, analysing and monitoring activities with the Nordic partners.

Ina Marija Šeščilienė: "The Nordic -Baltic Mobility Programme met (or it is better to say - exceeded) our expectations - Lithuanian Agency developed and enhanced professional relations with three relevant Nordic Agencies, we shared our experience and we got a lot of examples that we consider for the further improvement of our work. The project resulted in increased visibility of Nordic-Baltic cooperation, increased quality and involvement in the Nordic-Baltic cooperation. The project fostered experience exchange on best practices of quality assurance in Baltic-Nordic Higher Education Area. The project facilitated harmonisation of data collection and statistical methods used in analytical reports of all relevant Agencies. The enhanced bilateral relations among the Agencies give a long-term perspective in efficient, effective and extensive co-operation among Lithuanian (and other Baltics) and Nordic quality assurance agencies in higher education."

Hugi Olafsson, Director of the Office of Climate, Ministry for the Environment of Iceland studied climate change administration in Estonia and Latvia in 2016 and found the programme especially beneficial for cooperation between small countries: "There are already good ties between Iceland and the Baltic States in this field. I think this is helpful for all involved as the countries share an experience of being relatively small and with fewer resources than bigger countries. Good cooperation and exchange of experiences and best practices is of great help for small administrations to deal with the complex and fast-growing challenges and regulations in the field of climate change. In addition to any formal visits and/or meetings in the future, the connections made in this project and other related visits will make it easier to have informal contact with colleagues in selected fields, which can be highly valuable.

Applying is easy

The electronic application system at www.nb8grants.org is open for applications from 15 January 2018.

Please read the guidelines carefully and start looking for project partners in good time.

Register or log in if you are already a user of the mobility programme and start filling in the application - please note that you can fill in the application step by step up to the deadline.

Do not forget to submit your application before the deadline - 30 March 2018 !

Contacts:

Madis Kanarbik, Programme CoordinatorNordic Council of Ministers' Office in EstoniaPhone + 372 7 423 625E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.